Graffiti

Otherwise known as the destruction of public property! Around certain parts of London there is some really cool graffiti – the huge spray-can colourful stuff. I think this is great art. It is a shame when it’s on the wrong place like on buses, bus stops or office blocks. The South Bank has an area that the skateboarders use and the area is covered in graffiti – it is a shame that graffiti, even when done well and in the right place, is snubbed by the art world. The local authority isn’t always pleased about it either and paint over all graffiti even the Banksy art that is around London. I’m sure there are a few council members wishing they haven’t painted over them as they would be able to sell them for quite a price now. Not really sure how you would take a Banksy artwork home unless you buy the building it’s painted on.

My earliest memories of graffiti is about 20-odd years ago with the explosion of hip hop and the Beastie Boys. Cool people were carrying around huge portable stereo systems, rolled-up pieces of lino and wearing VW badges around their necks. Breakdancing was all the rage and so was graffiti. As a teenager I found it all very exciting but I never went as far as buying some spray cans and painting the wall of my parents garage. I just wasn’t confident enough to have a go in those days and maybe too scared as to what my parents would say. Nor did I ever do breakdancing but I still have friends who can and still show-off at parties. The best bit of street art I have ever seen is in Belfast and the murals about the Troubles. They are amazing and in the most scarest parts of Northern Ireland. Hence why I don’t have any pictures of them but next time I’m there I will take some as they are truly works of art.

Just some more thoughts…

Not sure if the warm weather is here to stay but it was humid last night. There are all sorts of helpful and sometimes silly ideas for keeping cool at night in the news and press. Various ideas are: having a cold water bottle (instead of hot), a cool box by your bed with damn cold towels so when awake at night you can cover yourself in them, a small fan with a dish of ice cold water in front of it. Seems like a lot of effort for the three nights we have had of hot weather. Maybe opening windows and taking the duvet off the bed and replacing it with a sheet might be easier. I’m sure if this sort of humid weather continued for a long time when I would get a fan. But the noise of a fan might just keep me awake as well. Don’t think air con would be called for as the hot summer will never stay for long even with global warming.

I was reading today the six-page article that was in the Sunday Times about Amy Winehouse. Very interesting but I do feel sorry for her. She is hounded by the press all the time, most probably has an addictive personality by the amount of drugs she supposedly has taken and by the sounds of it can’t cope with the pressures of fame.  Then again, she if didn’t want all the attention, she could hide away like many other celebs and then you just don’t see or hear from them. Living in central London can not help matters. Amy Winehouse is like a UK version of Britney but at least Amy Winehouse can sing.

Food Porn

I first heard the phrase “Food Porn” a few months ago when someone on TV said this about people who buy cookery books, spend hours drooling over the pictures and then don’t actually do any cooking! Well, that’s me! I can spend hours looking at all the cookery books that we have – Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, Mary Berry and various others that family brought me when I first moved out. I have actually used the Jamie Oliver books for a couple of cooking challenges and they are pretty easy but the Gordon Ramsey book is too hard. Plus the need for all different types of strange ingredients that normal people don’t have in their cupboards. I can also search foody sites for ages looking for recipes especially for the BBQ or if entertaining looking for interesting desserts. Honestly, I can say that I don’t think I have ever cooked anything from a food web site. The only thing I can think of that I have collected from a site and made is a Cosmopoliation cocktail!

Another aspect of “Food Porn” is all the TV shows that are on nowadays – admittedly I will watch Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver (no wonder I have so many of their books) but I like their personalities (Jamie is an Essex boy!). And still I don’t cook very much unless I have too and then I will get too stressed about it or spend hours trying to decide what to cook. The only thing that I do enjoy is baking – chocolate brownies, pecan pie and lemon drizzle cake. There is something therapeutic about making cakes and also the end results are quite nice. Hmmm, cake (Homer Simpson moment)!

Sweaty Betty

I wonder where the saying Sweaty Betty comes from… well anyway that was me on the way home today. After spending the day in an air conditioned office, even at times it was way too chilly (until I opened the window to let in some warm air), getting on tube with an outside temp of 28 degrees was a flippin nightmare. Fifteen minutes of hell, literally – if I believed in heaven and hell then I would imagine the tube in a heatwave is hell and everyone who is bad comes back as pigeons. Not big fat wood pigeons but the scrawny London pigeons. Sorry, lost the plot there over what this post is about but I could easily rant on about religion. I won’t do that until I decided to give this blog up and lose most of my readers in one go.

My real issue is that I’m such a sweat bucket when it gets a bit hot, I’m sure I sweat more like a man than a nice young lady. Just on the tube I can feel the sweat running down my back and front – now I know what a bra is really for – to catch the sweat! When running, even on a cool day, I get home so hot and sweaty that it is embarrassing. I’ve been to fitness classes in the past and the sweat is tickling down my face and there will be other women in the class looking that they aren’t even doing an exercise class – that sort of just-step-out-of-the-salon look. It’s just not fair. Sorry to everyone for the very un-ladylike imagine that I have just portrayed, hope you don’t have nightmares! Luckily my fast train home is air conditioned so that gives me a chance to cool down before walking home. Apparently the weather is meant to change tomorrow but the tube will still be the hottest place in London.

Music videos

As well as a love for listening to music sometimes I can spend a few hours at night (especially in the winter) watching music videos on all ten-plus music channels. The original MTV channel doesn’t seem to play videos anymore – just crap reality TV shows as far as I can tell. So I’m left with MTV Dance, The Box, MTV Two and various others that I can’t remember the names of now. One problem with music channels is that there are too many adverts and way too many power ballads being shown. One of the most memorable videos and I think the first video ever is Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody but I have a couple of all-time favourites and yes, they are dance tunes. The Chemical Brothers, Hey Boy Hey Girl is a great video and I have a copy on my iPod touch. Other fab videos are The Prodigy, No Good Start the Dance; Benny Benassi, Satisfaction (for all those women looking to get into DIY!).

The days of dodgy videos that look like home videos on YouTube are long gone – videos are big business nowadays especially the rap videos. I can’t imagine how much those videos cost to make with all the bling bling but the wardrobe costs must be cheap though with all those bikini clad women in them! Other videos that I can remember from years ago are Aha, Take on Me and Dee Lite, Groove in in the Heart – the days just as computer animation was being used in videos. I have a feeling that this post might get repeated or updated as I remember or see other videos that I like.

Hot in the City

For the past week it has been surprisingly hot and sunny in the South East of England. It looks like it might continue for the next couple of days at least. As I’ve been on holiday for the past week and even though at home I have managed to avoid the news for the week. I imagine that the papers and the news on TV were full of people on the beach at the beginning of the hot spell. This happens every year when the weather suddenly turns warm – pictures of girls in bikinis in one of the London parks. Then the next day there is normally an array of people looking a bit burnt, sporting that streaky bacon look. Us Brits have a canny knack of getting way too excited about the sun and going a bit mad. Half-naked girls started hanging about beaches and parks, old men in the rather attractive look of socks and sandals, and news presenters predicting this might be the hottest summer so far. To be fair it has been a while since it has been this warm for so long.

Houses in the UK are not built for warm weather – double glazing, carpets, heavy curtains etc., so when it is above average warm sleeping at night is a nightmare. But I suppose with only a few months a year of nice weather having lots of tiled floors and air conditioning would seem a bit pointless. Luckily, my house is quite cool, especially downstairs – wooden floors, slate flooring in the kitchen and blinds instead of curtains. Other issues with warm weather in the UK is flying ants and gnats. These pesky insects get everywhere on warm days. Then there is myself, getting my white legs out in the warm weather – they are almost as bright as the sun and most people need eye protection from the glare! But at least I can get to wear my Birkenstocks and other sandals that I have collecting in my wardrobe.

Photo blogging – my house

I think this will be my last photo post as I’m actually missing writing – if only my school English teacher could hear that (or read that!). Anyway, below is a small collection of pictures of my house – four years in to the decorating and modernising and still not finished. I would write more today but I’m going out soon and I’ve got some more downloading on my iPod touch to do! Happy Friday!

Front of house (the old convertiable!)

Kitchen (about 3 years old now)

Small bedroom (my dressing room!)

The real fire – great in power cuts!

The lounge/diner

Well, that’s all the nice tidy house photos that I could find – when the hall is finished I will have a mass cleaning day and take lots of nice estate agent style photos. Then I’ll either post them on here or on flickr.

Photo blogging – Sydney

A few snaps from our trip to Australia last October.  The following are all from Sydney and mostly of the Opera House.

Photo blogging – Brighton

Oops, too much drinking and sunshine to post anything yesterday so here is some photos of Brighton (22 July 08).

Photo blogging – my garden

As I’m on holiday this week I’ve decided that it will be a week of photo blogging – basically little writing and a few photos. Today’s theme is my garden – enjoy.

Nothing like blogging in the garden – notice the beer and straw hat! Must invest in a more comfortable garden chair.